I have a VW Polo with a 1.4 tdi pd engine, since the warranty ran out I have changed the oil myself once a year . For the past four years I have bought a 5litre container of tdi pd (505.1) oil that is 4x5 = 20 litres. The oil change takes 4 litres so 4 yearly changes X 4 litres = 16 litres . I now have a surplus of about 4 litres so for my oil change this year I don?t have to buy any, Or do I ?.
The problem is I thought I would check to make sure there was enough of the surplus oil left to do a oil change without buying any more It is doubtful if I would need any for topping up because the car only does about 1500 miles a year . I got a small funnel (about 5 inches in diameter) out of the shed and proceeded to pour it out of its plastic container into some clean clear 2 litre pop bottles and when both bottles filled to the top I though great that?s £36 I won?t have to spend this year, then the penny dropped I had not cleaned out the inside of the funnel before measuring out the oil and although it was not dirty in any way that could be seen it must have had a layer of dust in it. The question is will the oil have been contaminated to the point where it is unusable.
Thanks
Edited by Pugugly on 02/03/2009 at 19:30
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If you can't see anything in the oil, there won't be anything in it that the filter can't cope with. Of course you have been changing the filter each time as well as the oil?
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Pour it through something like Ebay item : 280316201369, or, perhaps a 5 micron equivalent, and you'll be fine.
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Pour it through something like Ebay item : 280316201369, or, perhaps a 5 micron equivalent, and you'll be fine.
That seems slightly OTT to me..
Presumably any 'dust' will have been airborne to get into the funnel in the first place - so it seems highly unlikely that such light contamination would do any harm whatsoever. The dust would probably be no more noxious than the dust in the air you breathe & many times less toxic to an engine than the residual crud that usually resides there anyway (although I'm sure the the OP's engine is exemplary!).
Edited by woodbines on 02/03/2009 at 18:59
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>>That seems slightly OTT to me..
What!? £1.90 plus £1.50 for postage, a whopping £3.40. What's so over the top about that?
Although I frequently rail about users of car forums changing their engine oil more frequently than their underwear, I just can't see the point of pouring in oil that's suspected to be contaminated when you can filter it so cheaply.
I don't know what the dust was like, or where it came from.
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...when you can filter it so cheaply...
Quite right, run it through a filter - the one screwed to the engine block should do it.
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although I'm sure the the OP's engine is exemplary!).
Thats certainly correct
7 years old, 14,000 miles on the clock 7th oil change coming up
I think it costs more for oil changes than deisel to run it, lol.
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if you fitted an extra fuel tank you'd only need fill up once a year.
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Isn't there also an issue about putting in oil that has lain around for up to 4 years in an opened container?
(I was even worrying about whether my 2-year old unopened litre - never used since the car doesn't seem to need topups - would still be OK as part of a refill.)
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Spikey isn't far from the truth there - doesn't petrol and diesel start to degrade after sitting in the tank after around 4 weeks ?
A tank is probably lasting 4 months in this car!
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Each year the oil left from the previous year is the first into the sump for the next oil change, so the four litres I have now is what is left out of the container of oil I bought last year.
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Spikey isn't far from the truth there - doesn't petrol and diesel start to degrade after sitting in the tank after around 4 weeks ?
A tank is probably lasting 4 months in this car!
Well the car still runs as sweet as a nut and isnt there some truth in, if you keep the tank topped up you are less likely to have problems.
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Absolutely - there is a (probably theoretical) increased risk of the fuel system becoming fouled with old fuel, and by keeping the tank topped up you are probably reducing the risk of airborne contaminants and water vapour entering the tank.
Nothing a good thrash every week won't sort out ;-)
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